Augmented Exposure

This app allows mental health professionals to measure negative emotional responses associated with emotional eating, body image disturbances and addiction-related cues. In eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, emotional eating may contribute to binge episodes and loss of control. The application provides exposure to different virtual foods within two immersive environments, allowing patients to interact using hand tracking or controllers. Patients initially rate their craving and emotional activation in response to virtual foods, creating an individualized hierarchy in which the most activating stimuli are selected. Across different sessions, professionals progressively expose patients to these stimuli, from the least to the most activating, while monitoring emotional responses through a 5-point Likert scale. The app can also support interventions targeting body misperception through virtual body representations and may be used to assess craving and cue-reactivity in substance use disorders through controlled exposure to alcohol, tobacco and other substance-related stimuli.